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Are Iowa Birth Records Closing?????
Are you aware the State of Iowa's Legislature is considering a bill RIGHT
NOW to close Iowa birth records to public viewing in Iowa county
courthouses? Laws like this have already been enacted in other states.
If this bill passes the only way to obtain a birth record for anyone born
after 1905 will be to write to the IA State Dept of Health. You will
have to pay a (probably) non-refundable fee for EACH record search you
want performed. When just starting your research, how will you even know
which records to ask for? Aren't you are searching the records for that
very information??
The following is from Richard Harrison, the IAGenWeb State Coordinator.:
The Closing of Iowa Birth Records????
The Iowa State Department of Health, Vital Records Division, would like
to see all birth records less than 95 years old closed to the public at
the county level and have drafted a bill to this effect to be taken up by
the legislature. According to Larry Coghlan of the Vital Records Dept.,
"The proposal is to make birth certificates 95 years old and
older available for inspection and copying at the county level. The rest
of the birth certificates would require a direct and tangible interest to
obtain a copy. It is being proposed because of the identity theft (fraud)
that has been taking place throughout the United States."
This proposal raises a number of questions: Is it really necessary to
close 95 years of records to address this problem? How will moving the
records from the county level to the state level make it any more (or
less) difficult for people interested in committing fraud? How will they
define "direct and tangible interest"? Will state employees have
the time and inclination to REALLY search the records for your ancestor,
or will they keep the money and say "Not Found!" when the record is not
exactly where it should be but just a few lines or pages away? Can they
take the time to search for possible misspellings or decipher illegible
handwriting? If ISDH gets this passed for birth records will all the
other records follow suit? Is this an ill-conceived plan to punish the
innocent (genealogists and others who need access to these records)
instead of the guilty (those who commit fraud)?
We need to ask questions, now. If you cherish your right to have all your
county records available at your county courthouse, now is the time to
speak up. WRITE
CALL
EMAIL
your county officials, state
representative, and yes, even Governor Vilsack. If you don't speak up
now, it might be too late.
--
Richard Harrison/Encinitas, San Diego, California
IAGenWeb State Coord.:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~iagenweb/index.htm
IAGEN-L List Owner: IAGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
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If you are NOT an Iowa resident it is just as important, if not more so,
that you also be heard. Remind the legislators of the money you spend
when you are in your county of interest to do research. Not only are you
providing revenue to the county for copy fees, etc. You are also
spending money in their motels, eating establishments, shops, and other
area tourist attractions.
PLEASE contact one of these legislators and express the importance of
having the birth records remain open. Send an email to:
keith_weigel(a)legis.state.ia.us
and
betty_soukup(a)legis.state.ia.us
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CONTACT INFORMATION
The Honorable Governor Vilsack
Mailing Address:
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone or Fax:
(515) 281-5211 phone (515) 281-6611 fax
Email the Governor
http://www.state.ia.us/governor/comments/index.html
The web page below has links to District Maps and to the
emails
of all the Iowa Senators and Representatives. Send an email
to
the ones representing your county of interest:
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Members/78GA-members.html.
We will post the bill number and the names of committee
members as soon as that information is available.
Please forward this message to:
1) as many people you know who reside in Iowa
2) as many genealogists you know who have Iowa research
3) as many genealogical societies as you know
4) as many other organizations whose voices might make a difference
5) everyone you know who is involved in genealogy and history research
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